By Vaughn Bui
An installment of a plaque, meant to memorialize 50 years of serving its local community, has instead brought division and widespread disputes regarding politicizing a public space.
In a unanimous 6-0 decision, the Huntington Beach City Council has approved the installment of a plaque spelling “MAGA” at its popular Central Library. The council announced the plaque to be a commemoration of 50 years of serving the Southern California community, but has unexpectedly received nationwide attention and immense controversy. The vote to move forward has also divided the residents of Huntington Beach, neighboring communities, students and users of the library’s services.
The approved plaque is to be made of bronze with large gold-colored lettering that displays a celebration of the 50-year anniversary of the library and names, while simultaneously spelling out the “MAGA” acronym; the words “Magical, Alluring, Galvanizing, Adventurous.” Having already gone through one redesign and set with a budget of $8,000, the plaque is to be placed outside the Central Library and visible to all users who pass by.
The meeting had been attended by a large crowd of 100 people, including the Huntington Beach Community and Library Services Commission. A total of 40 speakers had advocated against the installation of the plaque to the city council, arguing its political ties with President Donald J. Trump’s campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again,” used in Trump’s 2016 and 2024 Presidential Campaigns.
“From far away, it looks like the plaque is celebrating 50 years of MAGA … This is where one’s eyes are drawn, to a political slogan,” Barbara Richardson, a resident of Huntington Beach, said in a public statement.
The council itself is composed of an all-Republican board, a reflection of the city’s increasingly right-leaning government. Yet even with the panel’s increasing support, only six speakers had come to argue in favor of the city panel for the addition. Contrastingly, the overwhelming support against creating and placing the plaque did not deter the council from voting to move forward; immediate backlash in the form of an influx of emails or public debates followed.
Councilmember Chad Williams spoke in defense of the increasing tension, arguing that the “MAGA” acronym has historically been spoken without backlash. Williams claims that the controversy stems from negativity towards Trump.
“The issue isn’t with the meaning of the words,” Williams said. “When Ronald Reagan said it, it was no problem. When Bill Clinton said the words, ‘Make America great again,’ it was no problem. It seems to not be an issue with the meaning of the words, it seems to be an issue for some with who said it.”
Chris Kluwe, an Ex-NFL punter for the Minnesota Vikings, had been one of the protesters who argued against the plaque, stating the plaque had pushed “MAGA” and far-right policies onto the beloved library. In an act of civil disobedience, Kluwe had begun to approach the council members directly but was apprehended and cuffed out of the council room by Huntington Beach police officers. Consequently, Kluwe had been fired from his position as a freshman football coach for the Edison High School football team.
“We want to honor the library. We want there to be a plaque, but we don’t want MAGA on it because a library isn’t supposed to be political,” Kluwe said in an interview with ABC7.
Also opposing the plaque is Natalie Moser, a former council member of Huntington Beach who gave her opinion about the plaque on Newsweek regarding the current council’s intentions of using the library for ill intentions.
“Libraries are spaces for knowledge, community and inclusion, they are not tools for political messaging yet this plaque inserts division, exclusion and control into a space meant to foster learning and utility,” Moser said.
